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Monday, July 01, 2013

Oat Bread Tartine

My Hearty Oat Bread really makes this open faced sandwich substantial enough for a light lunch and healthier than a slice of regular sandwich bread. I give the bread a good toasting before topping it with fresh veggies and a poached egg.

*Oat Breadadapted from Kathleen's Bake Shop Cookbook
3/4 cup brown sugar, not packed
1 tablespoon salt
1 3/4 cups old fashioned oats
3 cups boiling water
2 tablespoon butter
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/4 cup milk
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons wheat germ (optional)
1/4 cup flax seed (optional)
Place brown sugar, salt, and oats in a large bowl. Pour boiling water over mixture, stir, and let stand for 30 minutes or until water is luke warm. In a small bowl, sprinkle yeast over milk and let stand 5 minutes. Add this to the cooled oat mixture and stir. Combine flours, wheat germ, and flax seed. Add half of it to the oat mixture and stir with a wooden spoon. Slowly add remaining flour until all of it is fully incorporated. Cover and let rest in a warm place until doubled in size, 1-2 hours. I like to turn the oven on for a minute and then turn it off, this creates a warm draft free environment for the dough.
When the dough has doubled in bulk, punch it down and divide into two halves. Place in greased loaf pans (sprinkle tops with extra oats, if desired), cover them with plastic wrap and place back in the warm oven to rise for 1 hour. Preheat oven to 425°F and bake bread for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F and bake another 40-45 minutes. Remove from heat, and turn loaves out onto a cooling rack immediately. I tip mine on their sides to cool. We normally eat one loaf and wrap the other cooled loaf in plastic wrap and then foil and store it in the freezer for later.